Logistics Innovation in China: The Lens of Chinese Daoism

Yu Gong, Lujie Chen, Fu Jia and Richard Wilding
Additional contact information
Yu Gong: Southampton Business School, University of Southampton, Southampton, Hampshire SO17 1BJ, UK
Lujie Chen: International Business School Suzhou, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou 215123, China
Fu Jia: School of Economics and Management, Minjiang University, Fuzhou 350108, China
Richard Wilding: Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield, Bedfordshire MK43 0AL, UK

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 2, 1-21

Abstract: Innovation is vital for the logistics industry. This paper develops a Daoism-based conceptual model for logistics innovation in China. It identifies research gaps in this area and provides directions for future research. Following a content-based literature review methodology, 45 studies were selected. We identified five research themes: interpretation of logistics innovation; Chinese institutional environment for logistics innovation; innovation generation; innovation adoption; and innovation capability. We integrate the process view and outcome view of logistics innovation and propose that logistics capability, as an innovation outcome, is reflected and measured by innovation generation and adoption. This study is probably one of the first conceptual development papers on logistics innovation in China, providing a model for innovation within this context. It provides new avenues of research in this emerging, albeit important, area of research. Our conceptual framework utilizes Chinese Daoism philosophical thinking to provide a new lens for logistics innovation that is sensitive to the cultural environment.

Keywords: logistics innovation; China; conceptual development; innovation capability; Daoism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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